RULE 59. NEW
TRIALS-AMENDMENT OF JUDGMENTSNEW TRIAL;
AMENDING A JUDGMENT

(a) New Trial-Defined. A new trial is a re-examination of an issue of
fact in the same court,
after a trial and decision by a jury, court, or by a
referee.

(b) CausesGrounds for New Trial.

The former verdict or other decision may be vacated and a
new trial granted on the
application of a party aggrieved for any of the following causes materially affecting the
substantial rights of the party:

The court may, on motion of an aggrieved party, vacate the
former verdict or decision and
grant a new trial on any of the following grounds materially affecting the substantial rights
of the party:

1.(1)Irregularityirregularity in the proceedings of the court, jury, or
adverse party, or any
court order of the court or abuse of discretion by
which either party wasthat prevented a
party from having a fair trial;

2.(2)Misconduct of the
juryjury misconduct, and whenever anyif
a juror has been
induced to assent to any general or special verdict or to a finding on any question submitted
to the jurors by the court by a resort to the determination ofarrived
at by chance, the
misconduct may be provedproven by
thea juror's affidavit of any one of the
jurors;

3.(3)Accidentaccident or surprise which
that ordinary prudence could not have guarded
against;

4.(4)Newlynewly discovered evidence material to the moving party making
the
application, which he could not, with reasonable
diligence, have been discovered and
produced at the trial;

5.(5)Excessiveexcessive damages appearing to have been
givenawarded under the
influence of passion or prejudice, but when a new trial is asked forrequested on this ground
and it appears that the passion andor prejudice affected only
the amount of damages allowedawarded and did not influence the jury's findings of the
jury on other issues in the case, the
trialdistrict court, on hearing the motion, and the supreme
court, on appeal, may order a
reduction of the verdict in lieuinstead of a new trial or order
that a new trial be had unless
the prevailing party in whose favor the verdict was given remits
the excess of damages;

6.(6)Insufficiency of
theinsufficient evidence to justify the verdict or other decision, or
that itthe verdict is against the law;

7.(7)Errorserrors in law occurring at the trial and, when required,
exceptedobjected to
by the moving party making the application; or

8. If without fault or negligence on the part of the party
aggrieved, such party is unable to
obtain or secure a correct and complete transcript of the testimony and instructions given and
proceedings had at the trial.

(8) if the aggrieved party, through no fault or negligence of that
party, is unable to obtain
a correct and complete transcript of the testimony and instructions given and proceedings had
at trial.

(c) Time forto File a Motion for
a New Trial. AnyA motion for a new trial must be
served
and filed no later than the following time after notice of entry of judgment:

1.(1)UponOn the ground of newly discovered evidence, within 6six months; and

2.(2)UponOn any other ground, within 60 days, unless the court, for good cause shown,
extends the time.

(d) UponOn What Motion for New
Trial Made. A motion for a new trial may be made
uponon the files, exhibits, and minutes of the court.
PertinentRelevant facts not a part ofin the minutes may be shown by affidavit. Either party may
procureobtain a complete or
partial transcript of the proceedings for use uponon the hearing
of the motion.

(e) [RESERVED FOR FUTURE USE].

(f) Memorandum of Decision on Motion for New Trial. With all orders
granting or refusingdenying a new trial, the judgecourtshallmust file a written memorandum concisely stating
the different grounds on which the ruling is based., and unlessUnless the insufficiency or
unsatisfactory nature of the evidence is expressly stated in the memorandum as a reason for
granting the new trial, it must be presumed, on appeal, that it was not on that
ground.

(g) Jury Verdict Vacated by Court. The verdict
of a jury also may be vacated and a new
trial granted by the court in which the action is pending on its own motion without the
application of either of the parties, when there has been such plain disregard by the jury of
the instructions of the court or of the evidence in the case as to satisfy the court that the
verdict was rendered under a misapprehension of the instructions or under the influence of
passion or prejudice.

The court in which the action is pending, on its own motion, may
vacate the jury's verdict
and grant a new trial if the jury has plainly disregarded the court's instructions or the
evidence in the case is such that it convinces the court the verdict was rendered under a
misapprehension of the instructions or under the influence of passion or
prejudice.

(h) UponOn Trial to the Court. In
granting a new trial in an action tried without a jury, the
court, without vacating the entered judgment if one has been
entered, may limit the trial to
one or more issues or to the taking oftake additional testimony
on one or more issues and
shallmust confirm or amend the findings of fact and conclusions
of law or make new
findings and conclusions. If a judgment has been entered, the court may vacate it and enter
a new judgment or may amend it to conform to the findings of fact and conclusions of law
finally made by the court.

(i) On Court's Initiative; Notice; Specifying
GroundsNew Trial on the Court's Initiative or
for Reasons Not in the Motion.

No later than 15 days after notice of entry of judgment, the
court may order a new trial for
any reason that would justify granting a new trial on a party's motion. After giving the parties
notice and an opportunity to be heard, the court may grant a timely motion for a new trial for
a reason not stated in the motion. When granting a new trial on its own initiative or for a
reason not stated in a motion, the court shall specify the grounds in its
order.

No later than 28 days after notice of entry of judgment, the court,
on its own, may order a
new trial for any reason that would justify granting one on a party's motion. After giving the
parties notice and an opportunity to be heard, the court may grant a timely motion for a new
trial for a reason not stated in the motion. In either event, the court must specify the reasons
in its order.

(j) Motion to Alter or Amend a Judgment. AnyA motion to alter or amend a judgment must
be served and filed no later than 1528 days after notice of entry
of the judgment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Rule 59 was amended, effective January 1, 1979; September 1, 1983;
March 1, 1997;
March 1, 1998; March 1, 2011.

Subdivision (e) was repealed, effective
March 1, 1997.

Subdivision (i) was amended,
effective March 1, 2011, to increase the time for a court to
order a new trial on its own from 15 to 28 days after notice of entry of
judgment.

Subdivision (j) was amended,
effective March 1, 2011, to increase the time to file a motion
to alter or amend a judgment from 15 to 28 days after notice of entry of
judgment.

Rule
59 was amended, effective March 1, 2011, in response to the December 1, 2007,
revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule
were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology
consistent throughout the rules.